The Many Uses of Ribbons
by Amberle-chan
Summary: Ribbons are very handy things to have around, especially when it comes to Kenshin and Kaoru. One-shot story. Please read and review!


Disclaimer: I would love for a red-headed man to take care of me, but alas Kenshin belongs to the creative genius of Watsuki-sensei, so I'm just letting myself fantasize a bit.  
  
Author's Note: Ok, I guess this short story could be considered a blanket scenario. Now, I know most RK authors have written one, and I should be different and not add to the proliferation of such stories, but I wanted to feel a part of the crowd, so I decided to write one anyway. Please remember to review!  
  
The Many Uses of Ribbons  
  
By Amberle-chan  
  
The afternoon was fading toward evening when Kenshin left the dojo to search for Kaoru. His anxiety had built slowly as the hours went by and she still had not returned home to the dojo after her walk down to the river. He started to berate himself that he had not accompanied her, but there had been too many chores to finish, and all because he had let Yahiko go with Sanosuke to visit Megumi in town. Kaoru had tried to convince him to relax for the afternoon, but he had declined, and now she had been gone for much too long. The day was getting colder and the clouds that had started skidding across the sky earlier in the afternoon were now slate gray with the promise of snow. Kenshin firmly closed the dojo gate behind him and ran in the direction of the river.  
  
The first snowflakes were beginning to descend when Kenshin reached their usual hillside on the river bank, but Kaoru was not there. Growing more anxious by the moment, he began to roam around the woods just off the river, shouting her name. After his fourth cry, he heard her screaming his name. "I'm coming, Kaoru!" he shouted, immediately running through the woods toward the sound of her voice.  
  
He found her huddled against a tree, shivering with cold. She reached out to him with one hand, tears streaming from her eyes in relief. "Kenshin," she cried, "I was afraid you'd never find me."  
  
He gathered her trembling form in his arms. "What is it, Miss Kaoru?" he asked, concern pouring out of him. "Why didn't you come home?"  
  
"It's my leg, Kenshin. I think I broke my ankle," she explained, her voice quavering as she pointed to her left foot.  
  
Kenshin moved away from her to examine the ankle in the decreasing afternoon light. It was swollen and bruised and was not correctly angled. He brushed one finger against it and Kaoru reflexively jerked her leg back.  
  
"I think it may be broken, too, Miss Kaoru," he told her, "I think I should set it now before I take you back to the dojo."  
  
She looked up at him as he stood up. "Are you sure, Kenshin?" she asked. "Maybe we should go back now and let Megumi look at it."  
  
"Do not worry, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin assured her as he stepped away from her, peering down at the ground. "During the war, and while I wandered, I had to set plenty of bones. I've done this before."  
  
He bent over and picked up a small but stout tree branch and then moved around a bit more trying to find another branch. Kaoru watched him anxiously, her arms wrapped around herself, as he searched the ground. The afternoon light was fading quickly and the snow had begun to fall more heavily, and she was feeling very chilled. He moved off through the trees, but always stayed in her sight. Moments later, he returned to her, kneeling by her hurt leg, two branches held in his hand. He took his sakabotou out of its sheath and stripped away the leaves and twigs away from the branches and placed them on the ground next to him. He then reached inside his gi and pulled out a long strip of cloth. Kaoru's eyes widened in surprise when she saw that he was holding her old blue ribbon. She had not worn it since the incident with Jin'eh and had actually thrown it away a few days after because she could not get the blood off it. Kenshin must have retrieved it.  
  
"Kenshin, have you had that all this time?" she whispered, her voice laced with surprise.  
  
Kenshin bent his head down, his red bangs hiding his eyes as he answered her. "Hai, Miss Kaoru. You did say that I could borrow it, that you did."  
  
"You'll need another. One won't be enough to tie the branches together," Kaoru said. She reached up and pulled out the green ribbon that she had tied her hair up with that morning. Her raven black tresses fell down around her shoulders.  
  
Kenshin raised his head to stare at her as she gently laid the piece of green cloth in his hand next to the blood-stained blue one. He studied in her surprise, lost in her sapphire eyes. Kaoru gazed back steadily.  
  
"You'd better hurry, Kenshin," she told him, bringing his attention back to the task at hand. "I'm really cold."  
  
Kenshin placed the two ribbons next to the branches and then wrapped his hands around Kaoru's left ankle. "Please do not move, Miss Kaoru," he instructed her. "This will hurt."  
  
Kaoru braced herself against the tree, a small cry escaping her lips as Kenshin twitched the ankle bone back into place. Her eyes filled with sudden tears in response to the sharp pain.  
  
"I'm really sorry, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin murmured.  
  
"That's ok, Kenshin."  
  
Kenshin then placed the tree branches to each side of the injured limb and bound the makeshift splint tightly around her ankle with the two ribbons. He then lifted her off the ground, cradling her in his arms. "Let's go home, Miss Kaoru," he said cheerily as she snuggled closer to him, trying to get warm.  
  
Kaoru was trembling violently with cold when Kenshin finally carried her into her room at the dojo. The walk back from the river had not been easy. The snow that had started to fall so lightly had become much heavier as night descended and the wind constantly whipped the falling flakes into Kenshin's face, making it difficult to see the road. Kaoru did not talk as he carried her, her head pressed into his shoulder. He could tell how cold she was because she could not stop shivering. Kenshin wondered how long she had sat under the tree waiting for him to come and mentally rebuked himself once more for not going in search of her sooner.  
  
Kenshin kicked Kaoru's folded futon open with one foot and placed her gently on it. He then grabbed her blanket and wrapped it around her. Kaoru sat there quietly, clutching the blanket around herself and stared straight ahead, still quivering, and Kenshin wondered if her trembling was from something more than just feeling cold. He hurried into his own room, taking his blanket from his futon and returned to Kaoru, wrapping the second blanket around her tightly. She smiled wanly at him.  
  
"I'll go make some tea for you, Kaoru," he said. "I'll be right back."  
  
Kenshin anxiously peered out the kitchen window as he boiled water for Kaoru's tea. The snow had become much heavier even in the few minutes they had been home, and he realized that it would not be safe to fetch Megumi. He also knew that Sanosuke and Yahiko would not be coming home that night; Megumi would insist that the two of them stay with her at the clinic at least for the duration of the storm. He would have to take care of Kaoru himself.  
  
"I can't get warm, Kenshin," Kaoru muttered through chattering teeth when he returned to her room, the tea set tray in his hands. He knelt by her side, poured some tea from the kettle intoa cup, and pressed the cup into her shaking hands.  
  
Kaoru hastily brought the cup to her lips and drank some of the hot liquid. She turned to him, her eyes wide and frightened. "Why can't I get warm, Kenshin?" she asked through trembling lips.  
  
Kenshin wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "I think you're in shock, Miss Kaoru," he said, reaching out with his other hand to steady her shaking hand. "You must stay in the blankets and drink the tea slowly, that you must."  
  
He gently massaged her back with the open palm of his hand, watching her face with concern. Kaoru did not speak but continued to stare at nothing as she slowly sipped the tea. After she finished the first cup, he poured her another. She drank the second cup just as slowly as the first and by the time she had finished, her shivering had halted. She set the cup down on the tray and huddled more into the blankets enfolded around her, leaning back against Kenshin's chest. Kenshin was worried that she was too quiet.  
  
"Are you feeling better now, Miss Kaoru?" Kenshin asked gently, as he brushed back some hair from her face. "Are you warm now?"  
  
"Yes, I'm much better now, Kenshin. Thank you." Her voice was soft and distant.  
  
Kenshin laid his hands on her shoulders, massaging them and the back of her neck with his slim fingers and thumbs in an effort to make sure that she stayed warm. Kaoru did not seem to notice the movements of his hands. She was still lost in thought, her eyes seeing something not in the room. "What are you thinking, Miss Kaoru?" he inquired, his voice soft against her hair.  
  
She did not answer right away, but continued to stare off into space, one hand playing with a strand of her hair. "Miss Kaoru?" Kenshin asked again, his anxiety now evident.  
  
Kaoru sensed the alarm in his voice and finally spoke. "I...was really scared, Kenshin," she said. "I could have died out there in the storm if you hadn't come for me."  
  
"I'm sorry I did not come sooner, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin answered.  
  
She twisted in his arms to look up at him. "You silly man!" she admonished him.  
  
"Oro?"  
  
She smiled at his confused expression. "You did find me, you idiot! That's all that matters!" she exclaimed as she pointed down at the splint around her ankle. "This is my own fault, Kenshin! I was stupid and wasn't watching where I was going. I was such an idiot because I didn't go back to the road. This is my fault. You don't need to apologize for anything!"  
  
"If you say so, Miss Kaoru."  
  
Kaoru shook her head in disbelief, knowing that Kenshin would still feel guilty about not finding her sooner no matter what she said. She almost whimpered in protest when she felt him let go of her and stand up. "Kenshin?"  
  
"I should try to find something to make a better splint than that, Miss Kaoru," he explained as he left the room. He returned several minutes later, his hands laden with the white cloth bandages they always kept in the house and two pieces of small, flat wood.  
  
Kaoru watched him intently as he bent over her foot, gently untying the ribbons that had bound the makeshift splint together. He laid them down next to him and took the branches away from her ankle. He then held her ankle steady while he began to make the new splint.  
  
"Kenshin?"  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"Why did you keep my ribbon?"  
  
Kenshin did not answer at first, but kept on wrapping her ankle up in the new splint. "I just wanted to keep it, that's all, Miss Kaoru," he finally whispered. He then sat back on his heels and gazed at her, his amethyst eyes fastening onto her sapphire irises. "It's been a rather useful ribbon, has it not?"  
  
Kaoru stared back at him as she reached down to slide one finger across the blood-stained blue ribbon laying on the floor at her side. Then she smiled at him, finally understanding just how useful the ribbon had been. The ribbon had done more than just stop Kenshin's bleeding after his fight with Jin'eh or bind up her ankle in a makeshift splint. She understood, even if Kenshin was not ready to admit it, even without any words being spoken, that this simple piece of cloth now tied their hearts together.  
  
"Yes, Kenshin," she agreed, her voice soft and warm as she regarded him with bright, shining eyes. "It's been a very useful ribbon."  
  
The End  
  
Last Author's Note: One of the most beautiful wedding ceremonies I have ever attended took place at a Russian Orthodox Church. As the bride and groom spoke their vows, the priest bound their hands together in a white ribbon. It was the memory of that ceremony and re-watching the episodes about Jin'eh kidnapping of Kaoru that made me think of this story. I hope you enjoyed it! 


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